Sunday, 3 May 2015

947 SIMPLE MINDS, Swindon Oasis, Saturday 2nd May 2015

Simple
Minds… at The Oasis? Simple Minds?
Oh, go on then…!

Truth
to tell, I would have been happy to leave Simple Minds be, following that
brilliant Birmingham show in February 2012 (gig 845), part of their epic “5 X
5” tour whereby they revisited those halcyon early days and albums when they
were cutting-edge sonic innovators, rather than the pot-rattling stadium
bluster uber-bores they unfortunately metamorphosed into. Let’s face it,
there’s no way they’d top a set which featured the likes of “Premonition”,
“Factory”, “Chelsea Girl”, “70 Cities” et al (well, maybe if they decided to do
“Real To Real Cacophony” and “Empires And Dance” start to finish on the same
night…?). However, a gig at the Oasis, 10 minutes’ walk from my front door? OK,
I’m game for that, happy to grit teeth through the post “Don’t You (Forget
About Me)” muck for the Glittering Prize of some early material knowing it was
a short walk home afterwards, and happy to shell out the steep – hell, make
that vertical – £50 ticket price
knowing there was no add-on petrol or car parking outlay!

Another
added bonus for this evening was that my brother, who, despite having seen
similar post-punk rockists turned flag-waving stadium filling tub-thumpers U2
over 100 times, had never seen Simple
Minds before, was able to join me! So, after some Bobby’s chippy tea, we
wandered over to the sparsely attended Oasis early doors (no sell-out, this),
taking a wander down into the hall when it opened at 7, and sat in our
centrally located seats, about 2/3rds back, chewing the cud whilst watching the
hall fill up.

Wait,
what? Seats? Oh yes. In their
infinite wisdom, The Oasis had determined that tonight was a seated
performance, the hall set up in temporary rows like a sales rep conference, a
potential atmosphere killer. As the witching hour approached, and the audience
of Saturday night couples and the long-standing faithful filed politely in, we
reflected on this state of affairs. It just seemed… well, wrong, really…

Happily,
we weren’t the only ones who thought that… As the lights dimmed at 8 following
their stirring orchestral intro music and the band filed onstage, vocalist Jim
Kerr, typically the last on, took to the mic and remarked, “a seated audience
at a Simple Minds gig? It’s impossible to sit down at a Simple Minds gig – it’s
like going to a party in Glasgow and wearing underwear; it just doesn’t
happen!” That thankfully got the remaining seated audience members on their
feet and immediately rocking to set opener, a rambunctious cover of sadly
forgotten 80’s band The Call’s “Let The Day Begin”. Immediately Kerr was in
stadium frontman mode, the archetypal audience mass communicator, all
extravagant gestures and fulsome movements, exhorting the crowd to clap along.
“There’s not too many places we come to for the first time,” he announced
before the synth opening to the solid and rather good actually newie
“Blindfolded”, getting the crowd onside further with a plangent early
“Glittering Prize”.

Then…
the unmistakeable staccato quickfire synth opening to the epic “I Travel”,
easily Simple Minds’ finest hour and one of my favourite records ever to dance
to, a thrilling krautrock rollercoaster ride through stark concrete 80’s
European cityscapes. I gave it loads to this breathless and breathtaking
rendition, arms flailing wildly about and knees taking a pounding to the
pulsing beat, and shouting “keep going!” and “play it all night” when it sadly
reached its’ all-too-soon fadeout conclusion. Following that, the subsequent
“New Gold Dream” was, sadly, both tremendous and disappointing at the same
time!

“Live
Aid... Mandela Day... now Swindon on a Saturday night!” remarked the firmly
tongue-in-cheek Kerr before a stripped back “American”, the acoustic treatment
proving rather lovely, after which I took a seat for a couple of later numbers
before getting up again for the synth pulse and snare snap of a splendid “Love
Song”. The inevitable “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” rounded off set part one,
Kerr oddly checking his watch and saying, “some of us have work tomorrow”,
before thanking us, “for making us feel like rockstars” (odd, I’d not noticed
anyone giving them cocaine and blowjobs, but still…).

After
a short intermission, set part two was less remarkable; backing vocalist Sarah
Brown took lead on the opening couple of tracks, with Kerr himself being more
understated, more economical with his vocals, legacy of a recent bout of flu
alluded to earlier, happier to allow the enthusiastic audience to backfill his
vocal lines. Despite 2 starts (“2 screw ups!”), a haunting, expansive “Someone
Somewhere In Summertime” was far and away set 2’s highlight, again evocative,
plangent and magnificent.

An
uneven but understandably very professionally delivered performance was capped
with an odd, almost funky reading of The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm”,
featuring 3-part lead vocals delivered by Kerr, Brown and keyboardist Catherine
AD, before the closing “Alive And Kicking” saw me throw shapes in the aisle as
if it were 1985 again. I grabbed the set-list from the obliging light-man
before wandering off with Paul, reflecting on a set with many memorable moments
amongst the stadium pop, most notably the brilliant “I Travel”, and in Jim Kerr
a frontman who can still ignite a crowd despite advancing years and a recent
flu bout. Worthwhile overall again, and better for Paul, who after wandering
home with me to collect his motor, drove past the venue again and got selfies
with guitarist Charlie Burchill and drummer Mel Gaynor (whose performance he’d
been (positively) critiquing most of the evening). Lucky sod!